It’s been more than 12 weeks since the pool’s closed due to the Co-Vid lockdown. I’ve just heard from some of my local pools that they’ll be open again next week! Hurrah! I’m so excited!
I’ve loved swimming outdoors for the last 12 weeks – it’s been super refreshing and I’ve learned loads. With the pools opening again next week it made me think about why I also like pool swimming and here’s some thoughts about the things I’ve missed.
- The warm water and being able to swim as fast or as slow as I like without getting cold!
- The visibility and being able to see the bottom, see other swimmers see the pool!
- Having a measured distance so I know how far I’ve swam and how well I’m swimming
- Being able to do properly measured repeats of different distances to help get through a session
- Being able to count my strokes per length and get a better feel of how efficiently I’m swimming.
- Being able to do some drills without freezing!
- Flip turns! I like how they feel and how it feels to push off the wall.
- Playing around – doing some handstands, backstroke, fly, diving in etc. Of course I can do some of those things outside and I have. But backstroke outside makes me dizzy and the mud puts me off a handstand!
- The pool is a lot closer to home so it’s easier to get a decent training session done.
- The pool has flushing toilets, showers and somewhere clean to put my stuff!
- Being in the pool for 7am 3 times a week has been a real anchor in my week giving structure and purpose to my day. Without it sometimes I’ve got up late, not got any work done and I’ve often found it hard to stick to a working routine. It’s felt a bit like a long holiday!
- Mostly I’ve missed a lot of my friends! And the chit chat of the morning swim crew.
Of course some of those things won’t be the same due to restrictions because of Co-vid. I’m not sure we’ll be allowed to dive in or do butterfly. As much as I love the outdoors – I’m also looking forward to getting back in the pool!!!
How about you? What have you missed? Will you be going back to the pool?